A fresh POCSO case has been registered against granite businessman R Veeramani after the mother of a minor girl approached the Special Investigation Team probing allegations against him, widening an investigation that has already led to his arrest and those of three others.

According to a senior officer familiar with the development, the new case has been registered based on the mother’s complaint and is being investigated by the four-member SIT constituted by Tamil Nadu Director-General of Police Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal.

Veeramani, who has been lodged in Puzhal prison since his arrest on August 29, was formally arrested in connection with the second case through prison authorities, according to police sources.

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In an unusual public appeal that indicated the widening scope of the investigation, the SIT on Monday asked anyone with complaints, information, documents or other material relating to Veeramani and the connected POCSO cases to approach investigators. Police provided a dedicated WhatsApp number and said they would keep informants’ identities confidential.

“Furthermore, appropriate legal actions are being taken by the Special Investigation Team on complaints received from the victims,” the Chennai police said in an official statement. It said it would investigate every piece of information received and take immediate action where warranted.

Separately, police are examining a complaint from another woman concerning the death of her teenage daughter more than two decades ago.

According to the complaint, the woman approached Veeramani seeking financial assistance for her daughter’s education, and he helped the girl secure admission to a school. The mother has alleged that Veeramani subsequently sexually abused her daughter. Police said they are examining the veracity of her allegations.

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One account provided to police said the girl visited Veeramani’s house and became withdrawn in the days before she died by suicide at her home in 2004. The police had then registered a case under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Records relating to that case were reported to have been destroyed in a police station fire during the 2017 Jallikattu protests. Investigators have since obtained details of the old FIR from copies retained by the court concerned and the Assistant Commissioner’s office.

The SIT is headed by Additional Commissioner of Police P C Thenmozhi. Its other members are Joint Commissioner Disha Mittal, Superintendent of Police J Mutharasi and Deputy Commissioner V V Geethanjali.

The expanding inquiry grew out of a POCSO case registered in October 2025 after police received a pen drive containing a video purportedly showing Veeramani sexually abusing a minor. Police initially sought to drop further action after saying they could not identify the girl, but the Special POCSO Court refused to accept the closure report and ordered further investigation.

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That renewed investigation recently saw the girl from that video identify herself as well as Veeramani, and eventually led to the August 29 arrests of Veeramani, Shanthi and her husband Mahendra Simhan. Police later arrested Ganesan, a former Gem Granites employee of more than two decades, after finding on his phone a video allegedly showing Veeramani abusing a minor girl.

The SIT recently questioned Congress functionary Ranjan Kumar, who has claimed that he approached Chennai police with evidence concerning Veeramani as early as 2024.